Korean Roasted Sweet Potato: The Winter Street Food Koreans Eat with Kimchi

When the air in Korea turns cold, a smell shows up on street corners before the first snow does. Sweet, smoky, a little bit burnt. That's gun-goguma (군고구마), roasted sweet potato, and for a lot of Koreans it is simply the taste of winter.

Miniature illustration of a Korean winter street cart with a drum-shaped sweet potato roasting oven
Illustration: a winter street cart with a drum-shaped roasting oven

What is gun-goguma?

Goguma (고구마) means sweet potato, and gun (군) means roasted. Korean sweet potatoes have reddish-purple skin and yellow flesh. Roasted slowly over charcoal or wood, the sugar inside turns to caramel and the edges go sticky and dark.

You will usually meet two kinds:

  • Bam-goguma (밤고구마), the "chestnut sweet potato": dry, fluffy and nutty, a bit like a roasted chestnut.
  • Hobak-goguma (호박고구마), the "pumpkin sweet potato": soft, moist and very sweet, almost like custard.

If you have a favorite, just say "bam" or "hobak" and the seller will know what you mean.

Where to find them

1. Street carts with a drum oven

From late autumn through winter, small carts with a black drum-shaped oven pop up near subway exits, traditional markets and quiet residential streets. Follow the smell. They're usually priced per potato, about ₩2,000 to ₩3,000 each depending on the size, and handed to you in a paper bag. Most Koreans don't eat them right there on the street, though. We carry the warm bag home and eat them there.

Miniature illustration of sweet potatoes roasting on a rack inside a drum oven
Illustration: inside the drum oven

2. Convenience stores

In the cold months, many convenience stores keep a small warmer of roasted sweet potatoes right next to the counter. GS25 even sells a bite-size roasted sweet potato (80 g) for ₩700, and it started selling it all year round in September 2025. Perfect if you just want a warm snack on the way home.

How Koreans eat it

For Koreans, none of this is special. A hot sweet potato with kimchi on top and a glass of milk on the side is just an ordinary winter afternoon at home. Kids especially love it this way, with kimchi on top and milk to wash it down.

  • With kimchi. This surprises a lot of visitors. Lay a piece of cold, sour, spicy kimchi on top of the hot sweet potato and take one bite of both. The contrast is the whole point. Soft, moist hobak-goguma goes down easily, so kimchi alone is all you need.
  • With dongchimi (동치미). This is radish water kimchi. Eat a bite of sweet potato, then sip the cold, tangy broth.
  • With a glass of milk. Bam-goguma is a different story. It's so dry and fluffy that it feels like it's getting stuck in your throat. Koreans call that feeling mok-i makhida (목이 막히다), and you really do need something to drink with it. For most of us, that drink is a cold glass of milk. Milk goes great with hobak-goguma too, for a different reason: the sweet potato is very sweet, the milk is mellow and nutty (Koreans call that taste gosohada, 고소하다), and each one makes the other taste even better. "Goguma and milk" is a combo almost every Korean grew up with.
  • Skin on or off? Both are fine. Many people peel it, but the slightly burnt skin near the caramelized edge is the best part for some of us.
Miniature illustration of a roasted sweet potato topped with kimchi, with a bowl of radish water kimchi
Illustration: roasted sweet potato with kimchi, and dongchimi on the side

A few tips before you buy

  • It's hot. Hold it by the paper bag and break it open to let the steam out before your first bite.
  • Carry small bills. Street carts are tiny businesses, so ₩1,000 and ₩5,000 notes make paying easy. Some take card or bank transfer, but don't count on it.
  • Season matters. Street carts mostly appear when it gets cold. Convenience stores are your backup the rest of the year.

Make it at home (air fryer)

  1. Wash the sweet potatoes and dry them well.
  2. Air-fry at 200°C (390°F) for 40 to 50 minutes, turning them over halfway.
  3. They're done when a chopstick slides in easily and a little sticky syrup bubbles out of the skin.

Then serve with kimchi, of course.

Miniature illustration of two adults sharing a roasted sweet potato on a snowy evening
Illustration: sometimes you just can't wait until you get home

Have you tried roasted sweet potato with kimchi yet? Tell me in the comments which team you're on: bam or hobak.

▶ Subscribe on YouTube for more Korean food and everyday life in Korea.

Sources: GS25 bite-size roasted sweet potato price as reported by Hankyung (September 2025). Street cart prices vary by seller and size.

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